If you didn’t know already, Taco Bell has a vegan menu. They screw up your order half the time, but it’s possible to get some tasty taco bell options with black beans and fresco which removes the chesse n crap and adds pico de gallo. It’s a good option if you are on the road and short on time. Anythings tastes bomb with their delish hot sauces too. One of their options is the Crunchwrap with black beans and the pico de gallo. It’s not bad. But we thought we could try to make it ourselves, and it kind of worked!
We also added a side of vegan queso (brought to you by Thug Kitchen) that actually kind of turned in to a delicious squash soup because someone, I wont name any names (cough*MIKE*cough), added too much canned diced tomatoes. I literally ate it like a soup the next day for lunch. So follow this recipe to make the queso, or a delicious soup. Info on the crunchwrap to follow.
Butternut Squash Queso-ish Dip (courtesy of Thug Kitchen) or a delicious Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
1 and 1/2 cups butternut squash puree (canned or you can skin and chop up a butternut squash into chunks, steam them in a pot until tender, then throw them in the food processor.. or your Nutri-Bullet. We really need to invest in a food processor)
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
3 tbs whole wheat flour
1 and 1/2 tsp ground cumin (Mike’s favorite)
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
3 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup veggie broth or water
1 cup dice tomatoes with their juices (You can use a can for this. If you are following the Queso recipe, make sure you only use 1 cup. If you are making the soup, throw that whole damn can in)
1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast (Thug Kitchen calls it nooch.. it adds the cheesey flavor to most vegan dishes)
2 cloves garlic (mince that shit)
2 jalapenos (you can use one if you are a wuss)
Some lime juice
A touch of salt
First you need to blend up your butternut squash puree and onion. You can do this in a blender. We are not yet professional home cooks and used my Nutribullet instead. It was messy, but it worked.
In a small bowl, mix together your flour and all your spices (cumin, chili powder, and smoked paprika)
Next, take a medium soup pot, or any pot that will look like it holds a ton of queso, and warm up your olive oil over medium heat. Add your flour mixture until it starts to thicken up. Then slowly whisk in the veggie stock and it will start to look kinda funky and chunky. Now here’s where you can go queso or go soup. Add you diced tomatoes. The amount you add is crucial. Add one cup if you are making the queso. Add an entire freaking can to make your soup. Your mixture should start to smooth out a bit.
Finally, pour in your butternut squash/onion mix along with everything else. Including the nutritional yeast, garlic, jalapenos, lime juice, and salt. Stir that shit up well. Reduce the heat to low and let your tasty concoction simmer for about 5 minutes. Make sure it tastes to your liking and add what you see fit. Voila. Queso/soup. Now make your crunchwrap and dip that shit all up in it.
Crunchwrap (this is so simple you will wonder why you have only been eating tacos on Taco Tuesday)
Ingredients
1 can of your fave vegan refried black beans
Big ass wheat tortillas (the biggest you can find)
Tostadas
1 avocado
1 tomato
1/2 white onion
1/2 jalapeno
Cilantro
Some lime juice
Salt and pepa
Optional: vegan sour cream. I might try to add some cashew cheese from Cultured Kitchen next time.
First, heat up your beans a little in a pot on the stove. Not too hot because they will be cooking again in your crunchwrap. While those are heating up, throw together your quasi pico de gallo. Dice your tomato and avocado and throw that in to a bowl. Then chop up your onion, jalapeno, and cilantro and add those as well. Stir it all together with some lime juice, salt and pepa, and boom. You’ve got a pico.
Now assemble. Lay out your big ass tortilla on a large plate. On the bottom add a layer of your warm refried beans. On top of that, add one tostada. Here is when you can get creative. We’ve added a creamy avocado/lime mix on top of the tostada and I just had the brilliant idea to add cashew cheese. Get something creamy in there, if you please. Or keep it simple and go ahead and add your pico. This is the tricky part, the fold. You are going to need to try to fold in one side at a time keeping all that tasty shit inside your big ass tortilla. Once you think you’ve got a handle on it, double check again because it might fall apart. Then, once you really think it’s secure, throw that monster fold side down on a George Foreman or panini press of some sort. I’m sure you could also throw it on a pan on the stove like a quesadilla, but I haven’t tried that yet. Let me know if you do!
Anyways, grill it up until it browns on both sides and you get those pretty George grill lines. Take it off the grill and back on your plate. Top it off with a little extra pico and get your queso ready for dipping. Dig in!
Phatty Food 